Exploring the senses
Most of us were taught we have five bodily senses. Turns out there are actually eight and those three missing from our education are pretty important.
Photo by Luke Shaffer on Unsplash
Did you know there are eight senses? The five we all know (vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch) plus:
Interoception - awareness of what is happening inside the body, eg, feeling cold, tired, thirsty or sad
Proprioception - awareness of where your body parts are in relation to others, eg. walking around without having to look at your feet, knowing how far to reach for something are both engaging the proprioceptive sense
Vestibular - this sense is about coordinating movement with balance. eg. movement up or down, backward or forwards, and around or over.
Why does this matter?
Because we can be sensory seeking or sensory avoidant (hypo-sensitive/hyper-sensitive) in any combination of all eight of our senses. Understanding this can help build a sensory toolkit for yourself or your loved ones, particularly if you or they are neurodivergent.
Here are just a few examples:
Taste: Crunching on raw veggies/using chewellery/sucking thumbs or chewing a pencil stimulates the sense of taste (uniform tastes/textures in food as an example of navigating taste hyper-sensitivity)
Vision: Watching ripples on water/flapping hands in front of eyes/watching fairy lights/a lava lamp to stimulate vision (or darkness/eye mask/covering eyes for reduced visual stimulation for the sensory avoidant)
Hearing: Singing/humming/repeating phrases/listening to music/birdsong/static white noise to stimulate hearing (or earplugs/reduced noise for those who are sensory avoidant)
Smell: Aromatherapy/essential oil roll ons, oil burners, items of clothing from home, toys with scent to stimulate sense of smell (reducing perfume/smells, keeping spaces well aired for those who are overstimulated in this area)
Touch: Hoodies, onesies, weighted blankets, tapping, hugs, pressure massages to stimulate touch (or reducing touch and expectations around this for those who are avoidant)
Vestibular: Rocking/swaying/running/bouncing on a swiss ball or jumping on a trampoline to stimulate the vestibular system (or avoiding these movements/activities for someone sensory avoidant in this area)
Interoception: Identifying emotions with a safe person/mindfulness meditation stimulates the interoceptive sense (those who experience interoceptive hyper-sensitivity might experience things intensely and need lots of support/recovery time)
Proprioception: Clapping, any physical exercise, like weights/planks/dancing, plus Lego, crafting and house work stimulate the proprioceptive sense (those who are hypo-sensitive proprioceptively might experience bumping into things/stubbing toes or find dancing a challenge)
Remember, sensory needs are dynamic. They shift and change over time, so keep experimenting, keep playing. Especially true for those of us who also seek novelty too!
For autistic adults, like me and my clients, understanding and experimenting with sensory supports in these areas can help with managing, recovering from and avoiding burnout and supporting nervous system regulation day-to-day.
For young people and for adults alike - neurodivergent, neurotypical, neurocurious - I suspect that experimenting with these ideas can bring support and regulation to everyone.
